The post Viking Wolf Review – An Entertaining, Bloody, and Somewhat Creepy Werewolf Movie appeared first on Ready Steady Cut.
We review Netflix movie Viking Wolf, which contains no spoilers.
It’s only February, but it looks like 2023 isn’t the year of the rabbit but the year of the wolf — werewolves, to be precise. January saw the premiere of Teen Wolf: The Moviefollowed by the highly anticipated Wolf Packfeaturing none other than the iconic killer, Sarah Michelle Gellarand now Norway has just released its take on the half-human, half-wolf mythos with the release of viking wolf (Or Vikingulven). The film, directed by Stig Svendsentakes a much darker approach to werewolf lore than the other titles we’ve seen so far this year, as it draws inspiration from millennial Norse folklore.
Viking Wolf Review and Plot Summary
viking wolf begins by introducing the viewer to a Norse legend in which raiding Vikings stole an angry-looking puppy from a church in Normandy (now France). The dog was some kind of demonic hybrid that mutilated its captors before fleeing into the woods to spread its curse. We then move on to contemporary times and meet our main character, Thale (Elli Rhiannon Muller Osborne)a teenager who just moved from the city to a small town with her police mother, Liv (played perfectly by Liv Mjönes)Stepfather Arthur (Vidar Magnussen) and little sister, Jenny (Mia Fosshaug Laubacher). Thale is a typical teenage girl who steals beer from the fridge and heads to the local bay to hang out with her crush, Jonah (Sjur Vatne Brean). As a new girl in town, she experiences ruthless bullying from her peers. When Thale witnesses a brutal attack on Jonas and one of their classmates, she tries to help but injures herself.
As Liv investigates the attack, things get stranger and stranger. It looks like the girl was killed by an animal, but what kind of animal could be so vicious? A visit from a strange man claiming to be a werewolf hunter has the police on edge, while an animal expert called in to analyze the injuries confirms that a type of wolf was indeed responsible for the teenager’s death . Meanwhile, Thale struggles with symptoms of post-traumatic stress after her attack, but she also experiences bizarre changes, including heightened senses and hallucinations.
There’s a lot to enjoy about this movie. The pacing is as good as it should be in a horror movie. We get a brief introduction of who these characters are and their relationships before we get straight into the scary parts. Each kill is graphic enough to give you an idea of what’s going on without going overboard on the gore. And the werewolf itself looks brilliant. It takes a while before we see the creature on our screens, but when we do, it doesn’t disappoint.
This entry into the werewolf genre is bloody and somewhat creepy, but it tries too hard to sell the emotional bond between the characters. While the plot is quite similar to the cult classic Ginger biscuitsit completely lacks the comedic relief that made the 2000 classic a…well, classic.
viking wolf tries to terrify, and it mostly does a solid job of keeping the viewer engaged, but some of the character’s decisions and how they interact (or don’t interact) with each other make it hard to take it seriously. We’re supposed to believe the two sisters are close, but we see little evidence of it during the film.
Thale’s reactions to slowly transforming into a beast are robotic at best. And no one seems to notice anything wrong with her for very long. Liv and Thele share almost no scenes throughout the film, which makes the mother-daughter plot almost redundant. It would have been the same movie if these two characters were strangers.
Is Viking Wolf any good?
viking wolf fails in its attempts to tell a deeply moving story. It fully succeeds in being an entertaining werewolf movie with good CGI and the right amount of body horror. As long as you’re not expecting a masterpiece, you’ll probably enjoy the ride.
What did you think of the Netflix movie Viking Wolf? Comments below.
More stories
- The Viking Wolf Ending Explained
The post Viking Wolf Review – An Entertaining, Bloody, and Somewhat Creepy Werewolf Movie appeared first on Ready Steady Cut.
